Good bye Gamjung~

Today was my last day of working at Gamjung Elementary School!  I can't believe the day came where I had to say goodbye!  It's Korean culture to just kind of slip out without being noticed as you're leaving, so I didn't tell any of the students that I was leaving until yesterday and today.

I was given some of the funniest goodbye gifts; like this hand carved wood cow necklace (from 6th grader: Katie)...

a hand made beaded "mini purse" cell phone charm (made by the 1st grade teacher, Crystal)... and this teddy bear with a one of a kind handmade outfit (from 5th grader: Casey)....

and of course, lots of letters and cards! 

I was even given a "couple ring" from one of my 3rd grade girls who was crying when she handed it to me... Ahhh... I brought a couple dozen Dunkin Donut donuts to celebrate my final day with all of the teachers and Administration at 4:10pm, before school let out for the day.  (pictured below: a tofu donut! Bet you can't guess which one!)

It was so nice to have a chance to see everyone together again before I left! There are only 12 teachers at my school, so we're all very close and I consider them my Korean family!  Especially these two!  Ella and April :) 

...and the rest of the ladies! :)

They urged me to give an official goodbye speech... talk about pressure!  But what's a day of working in Korea without pressure, right?!

All in all, I'm sad to have closed that door, but am excited to open the new one in March!  Please cross your fingers for Dae Gyo Elementary!  I still haven't heard yet where I'll be placed, so I'll keep you updated! 

Hello Thailand!!

Aaron and I will be saying goodbye to our students and jet setting to Thailand this Friday afternoon!  We finally sat down and started planning where we'd like to go and places we'd like to see!  It wasn't until last week that I even remembered what country I was going to, since we booked the tickets on a whim a couple months back!   So, yesterday I started getting really excited about the trip!

We've only planned a rough outline of where we'll be going and have only booked 1 night of accomodations! haha  I'm clearly a NEW WOMAN since living in Asia!  I used to plan stuff to the tee in the past!

So, with that said, here's the tentative plan!

We'll be hanging in Shanghai, China for 9 hours, then landing in Bangkok in the middle of the night!  We're going to stay in Bangkok, at the world famous Koh San Road, for a day of shopping and market adventures...

When we've had enough of Bangkok, we're going to jump on a train to Cambodia!  Yes, this was planned on a whim!  I couldn't pass up an opportunity to see and touch Angkorwat, and Aaron was more than happy to see it for a 2nd time this year!

After exploring Angkorwat, we'll be crossing back over into Thailand and heading for Koh Tao Island!  Koh Tao island is known for it's diving and coral reefs, so my snorkel will be packed, and my newly purchased underwater camera will be coming along as well!  :)

If we can ever pull ourselves away from the relaxing atmosphere of Koh Tao island, we'll head over to nearby Koh Pangyang Island!  :)

Next on the tentative plan is to take a ferry back to the mainland where we'll take a bus down to Krabi for my 2nd trip to Railay Beach!  The last time I was there (summer of 2009) I remembered thinking, "It would be amazing to come back here!"  Who knew that just over a year and a half later, I would!

Lastly, we'll head over to Koh Phi Phi island in order to catch a boat to Maya Bay where THE BEACH was filmed!  We're planning to stay the afternoon here before heading back to Railay for our last stage of the trip! 

For Aaron and I, no vacation is complete without getting a nice bronze tan!  We like to lay on the beach, read, eat local food, ride scooters through the center of town and out amongst the locals, swim with the fish, relax in hammocks, take photographs, enjoy romantic meals together, become friends with the locals and other travelers, and do anything and everything else that comes along with being on vacation!

Here's to 16 days in Cambodia and Thailand with my love!

Feel free to follow along!  The adventure starts Friday!

A date in Daegu

Aaron and I took the KTX train to Daegu to meet up with Jessica and Carlos, for a little date in the city!!

We met them outside the train station and stumbled upon a really awesome wine bar with an outdoor deck!  It was such a nice day out that we grabbed a table near the wood burning stove and had ourselves some red wine and coffee outside!

Jess and A

(This was the BEST cafe mocha I'd ever tasted!  It was like drinking melted chocolate and frosting!)

Jess and Carlos just got back from 16 days in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia!  While they were in Indonesia, they stayed in an artsy town, famous for it's silver work, called Yogyakarta... and took a class where they actually hand made these new wedding rings for themselves!  I LOVE THEM!

After we had finished the delicious bottle of Carminere, we decided to move on to the next place for some dinner!  Jess and Carlos had come to this restaurant last Christmas eve and were huge fans!  It's called Mies.  If you live in Korea, go here!  It's delicious!  

There was a long wait, but it was well worth it!  As you can see, the inside is really industrial, with touches of home here and there!  It's a really cool atmosphere...

... with amazing food!  The portion sizes were gigantic, which made me glad I ordered a greek salad and NOT a pizza 4 days before I'll be wearing a bikini in Thailand!  For the record, I didn't finish it all! 

We stayed at the restaurant for a long time, just talking and laughing, and sharing stories about our travels and life... We opted to skip the opportunity to do some shopping on the famous shopping streets of Daegu and headed for a coffee shop instead!  The shops, restaurant, cafe's and bars in Daegu are all so cozy, artsy and original!  I love it!

 At the cofee shop...

Aaron bought a vintage NIKON film camera last week!  He's crazy about it, and takes it everywhere!  Nice of him to let Mayo play with it, huh?! 

What can I say?!  This girl is one of my favorite girls in the world!  It was sooooo nice to catch up!

Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend. ~Plautus

I'm convinced that drinking good wine, eating delicious food, having stimulating conversations, and endulging in yummy tea and coffee with wonderful friends, is the best way to spend your Saturday!  Try it sometime!  I promise it's wonderful!

Happy Solar New Year!

I haven't had to work the last three days, thanks to Korean's celebration of Solar New Year!  This is actually the most important of the Korean holidays; even bigger than Chuseok, which I didn't know until today!  The 3 day holiday (5 days counting the weekend) is used as a time for many Koreans to return to their home towns and spend time with with their parents and other relatives...  Many of them even dress in their traditional Hanboks!  I spotted these girls walking down my street, wearing theirs, while I was out for a walk on Wednesday!

Aaron was even given a Solar New Years gift by the man who owns the convenient shop next to my new apartment!  Both of us have made it a point to try to always buy stuff from only him, so we can build rapport with him!  Apparently it's working, because as soon as he saw Aaron yesterday, he started looking through boxes, trying to find things to give him for the New Year! :)  Incase you can't tell, it's 2 packs of laundry detergent, 2 boxes of plastic gloves, and a bottle of olive oil!  hahaha!

I usually try to plan a vacation during a 5 day holiday, but with Thailand coming up this week, I decided to take the 5 days to stay in town, enjoy my new home and neighborhood, and relax... I basically just lounged around the apartment, read a book (LEFT TO TELL about the genocide in Rwanda), did some shopping, cooked yummy stuff, went out to dinner (downstairs with Aaron), went on walks along the harbor nearby, scooted around town, and went bowling with Aaron! :) 

Aaron actually spotted the bowling alley a couple days ago!  It's literally a 3 minute walk from my new place and has the feel of a small town midwestern bowling alley!  It only had 8 lanes! At the mere price of $1.75 per game though, something tells me we're gonna be coming here a lot!

I think it's worth mentioning that I bowled 172!!!  I even got 3 strikes in a row!  I was on fire!  I usually can't break 100, so this was very exciting, and I may have jumped and cheered for myself more than your average 29 year old would!  :)

We've both had such a nice and relaxing break from work these past 3 days!  Tomorrow, we are going to take the train to Daegu to see Jessica and Carlos!  We're super excited!

Happy Solar New Year!

새해 복 많이 받으세요

(saehae bok man-hi ba-deu saeyo)

Tea for three - skype style!

Last night, Gill and I met up at the Starbucks in Jangsan for our tea for three date with Truchen!  Incase you didn't realize it, Truchen is now living back in South Africa... SAD!!  But, before she left, the three of us all vowed to keep our Wednesday tea for three dates a tradition, with the help of skype of course! 

So, we set up my new little laptop, signed on to skype, and drank our coffee's while we waited... and waited... and waited for Truchen to sign on...

As we waited, Gill decided to break out her make-up (she's a make-up artist) and give me a little makeover!   Who doesn't love a little impromptu make-over in Starbucks?!

I realize this would never be done in America, but in Korea, girls do their make-up everywhere: on the bus, in the subway, in line at the bank... wherever!

We wait at Starbucks for about an hour and half... We found out later, that Truchen had gotten her times mixed up! Ooops! Luckily though, Gill is meeting Aaron and I for dinner at the Samgyupsal restaurant under my apartment tonight, so we're gonna have a little skype date with Truchen over dessert afterwards!  :)

 

While the coffees and make-over were wonderful, my favorite part of the night was still to come!  Gill and I met up with her friends Sarah, Tam, and Andrew at a... drum roll please.... MEXICAN RESTAURANT!  Oh Mexican food!  How have I lived without you for so long?!

The chicken tacos and quesadilla (I may have splurged a bit!) were delicious, and long awaited!  The only thing that could have made this night better was to have had Truchen there in person!  Miss you friend!

 

PS: Happy Solar New Years Eve!